Arsene Wenger hailed the "fantastic" spirit of Arsenal in responding to a week of disciplinary criticism with a victory against Newcastle - even though they now face a growing injury crisis.

Gunners boss Wenger paid tribute to his under-fire players as Fredrik Ljungberg, Martin Keown, Ashley Cole and Patrick Vieira were all left doubtful for Tuesday's Champions League tie in Moscow against Lokomotiv.

He declared: "By the end, we were nearly down to eight men on the pitch, but we never gave in and won. It shows you all about the spirit. The players were a bit shocked by the intensity of the criticism they got, but we gave the right response on the pitch by playing our football."